


To Support To Grow

by virdant



Series: A Compendium; A Journey [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pro-Gamers, Dota - Freeform, Established Relationship, Friendship, Male Friendship, references to the slushie incident
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25279513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virdant/pseuds/virdant
Summary: Sebastian and Blaine are careful as they navigate their new relationship, balancing it with their responsibilities as professional Dota 2 players. As star carries of their respective teams, they both have pressure to perform tournament after tournament, and there are always eyes on them. But with one match, Sebastian has to confront not just Blaine as his enemy, but his doubts, his fears, and the rumors of collusion growing in the wake of their relationship.For Seblaine Week 2020 Day 4: Power Couple
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Sebastian Smythe
Series: A Compendium; A Journey [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831429
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23
Collections: Seblaine Week 2020





	To Support To Grow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [readfah_cwen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/readfah_cwen/gifts), [anisstaranise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/anisstaranise/gifts).



> The Warbler to Warbler discord once talked about pro-gamer AUs, and while everybody had lovely ideas, the only e-sport i like is Dota 2. I actually started writing a Dota 2 AU _years_ ago, in 2017, right after I joined the seblaine fandom (mostly because I posted Foundation and then went straight to watch Dota live for a week, because I am that type of nerd). I then subsequently abandoned the fic and ignored it for years. Well, the discord mentioned that they wanted to read about seblaine as gamers and I pulled the story out of my abandoned folder, and then I left it in the WIP folder for another year or so before I decided I should finish my fic.
> 
> This is not that fic.
> 
> This is the sequel to the fic. The prequel, the Dota AU that I wrote first, will be posted on Day 7.
> 
> You do not need any knowledge of Dota 2 or even the prequel to read this fic. 
> 
> That being said, this story is dedicated to rose and dowa and anis, who all were very enthusiastic about a gamer AU, and of which this story is not what they asked for. (i don't know dowa's ao3 user so if somebody does let me know and i'll tag them)
> 
> And now, please enjoy.

* * *

Sebastian was browsing Reddit on his phone when a cup of coffee was in front of his face, blocking his view of the truly horrendous theorycrafting the community had come up with now. “What?” he demanded, before he saw the hand attached to the cup, and the face attached to the hand. “Oh,” he said. He tucked the phone into his back pocket. “Blaine.”

“I can’t believe you actually read that.” Blaine was grinning. He waggled the coffee in front of Sebastian’s nose until he took it—medium drip, his usual order. “And don’t try to tell me you were just seeing what people were posting. You didn’t even notice me walk up.”

“Just some garbage theorycrafting.” He’d picked that post because it was slightly more palatable than the incessant team rumor posts that always plagued the online community.

“Who are they suggesting we jungle?”

“We,” Sebastian said, with a pull of his coffee—still warm, but not quite scalding anymore, “are not jungling _anybody_.”

“But I love jungling Anti-Mage.”

“I will never play another pub with you, if you keep this up.”

Blaine laughed.

“Where’s your drink?” Sebastian took another sip of the coffee, and then frowned at it. Cinnamon. He hadn’t noticed in the first gulp, distracted by Blaine’s terrible suggestion. “Did you give me your coffee?”

Blaine grinned sheepishly. “Tina says I’m not allowed any more caffeine today. She’s said if I tap my foot anymore, she’ll break it and I can hobble my way on stage.”

Sebastian raised a brow. “So you’re foisting your half-drunk coffee on me.”

“Well,” Blaine said, “waste not want not.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but he didn’t try to give the coffee back. Blaine’s bad habit of adding cinnamon to perfectly good coffee aside, he had good taste in coffee shops, and he had found a particularly nice one for this cup. 

Blaine settled beside him. Across the room, Tina eyed him suspiciously, but Trent grinned at him as he chatted with Nick and Jeff. It was the second Major of the season, and even though it had only been a few months, it was good to catch up with other players, especially since the Warblers and Blaine’s new team—Phoenix Gaming—had both qualified. It was especially good to have a chance to talk to Blaine.

Coffee handed off, Blaine had turned to his phone. He was browsing through Reddit himself, and Sebastian rolled his eyes at the irony of the whole situation. Both of them had finished their games for the day, and normally David and Wes would have wrangled the Warblers into some sort of meeting, but Beat had a migraine, and that meant that while he tried to sleep it off, the rest of them were taking some time to catch up with the other players. Sebastian had spent a good ten minutes in conversation with some EU server players that he’d played pubs with before, talking about their prospects for this Major. Thad was deep in conversation with Jesse St. James from Team Adrenaline. Kurt Hummel had been lurking in the player lounge earlier but Sebastian had managed to avoid any interaction—New Directions had qualified, even without Blaine as their support player—and after spotting Trent, had been wondering where Blaine was before he had shown up, coffee in hand.

“We still getting dinner?” Blaine asked.

“Sure.”

And that was another change. He supposed that they were dating now, even though they didn’t talk about it and spent most of their time with their respective teams. The Warblers had a gaming house where all of them stayed, and likewise so did Phoenix Gaming. They got coffee or dinner, occasionally, and they played pubs together, but Blaine was busy trying to get his new team off the ground, and Sebastian was busy with the Warblers. There were more championships to go for, more tournaments to win, and more scrimmages to play. It kept them both busy with their respective teams, and Sebastian, loathe as he was to admit it, had to acknowledge that Kurt Hummel had a point when he wrangled Blaine away from the Warblers and onto New Directions so they could spend more time together.

Blaine leaned into Sebastian’s shoulder, just a little, and Sebastian almost stepped away before a quick glance around showed nobody watching. He eyed Blaine’s screen—he wasn’t on Reddit after all, but was browsing Yelp for restaurant recommendations.

“Hungry already?”

“If we go early, we can get food by ourselves without the rest of the boys.”

“Here I thought you liked spending time with them.”

“Sebastian.”

“I mean, your text today was about how much you missed the Warblers.”

“You ass.” Blaine was grinning. “I know exactly what I wrote.”

Blaine’s text had said, “Good Morning! We getting dinner today? I miss my Warbler,” with three hearts and had very clearly been intended for Sebastian alone, but it was easy to mislead Blaine if it meant he would laugh the way he did when Sebastian teased him.

Sebastian smiled back. “Think we can leave without the boys noticing?”

“Thad will run interference for us.”

“You sound confident.”

Blaine smiled. “Thad likes me.”

Sebastian snorted as he finished off his coffee and stood, pulling Blaine up. “Thad likes _me_ ,” he corrected. “He says I’m the best carry he’s played with.”

“He’s just saying that because you’re playing together now. He used to say that about me all the time.” Blaine took the cup from him to toss it into the trash as they walked out. Thad eyed them and smirked before turning back to his own conversation. Blaine waved.

Sebastian did not. “Are you accusing him of lying to me?”

“I’m saying he knows how to placate finicky carries like you.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m far less finicky than you.”

“Please. I’ve played with you. You’re the worst when you’re playing carry. Always so demanding.”

“And you aren’t?” Outside of the player lounge, there was nobody around. Sebastian slung an arm around Blaine’s shoulders, enjoying the way Blaine leaned into him. “I’ve played support for you plenty of times, and the way you suck up farm…”

“I was playing a farming carry! That’s what I’m supposed to do.”

“Yeah, and who made you play one?”

Blaine nudged him. “You did.”

Sebastian smiled back. “Yeah,” he said. “And you were brilliant at it. Still are.”

Blaine flushed.

It was good, seeing Blaine play carry again after a year of playing support for New Directions. He’d managed to recruit a good team in the usual chaos that happened after The International—the biggest tournament of the season. Tina had been willing to join his team instead of going back to New Directions, and she was a solid support with plenty of flashes of brilliance. He’d recruited Trent to play off-lane, and Trent had an uncanny ability to gain experience even when both Sebastian and Thad were pressuring him in lane. Their mid player was a vicious girl who went by Kitty, who had previously played on Team Trouble, who was aggressive enough to give Blaine all the space he needed for farm, and their roaming support was Sam Evans, who had subbed for New Directions a few times but had never been a regular on a team until Blaine had recruited for Team Phoenix. And Blaine, of course, was their farming carry, who remained as brilliant as he always had been. The team was new, but had potential; they hadn’t made it to the Fall Major, too busy getting their feet under them, but they’d been getting better and better, and it showed in their qualification to the Winter Major.

“I watched the replay,” Sebastian said, casually.

“Yeah? What secrets have you got out of it?”

“Come off of it. I can’t watch your games just to enjoy them?”

Blaine laughed. “I know you, Sebastian. You play to win.”

“So do you.”

“Yeah,” Blaine smiled into the distance. “But that’s not a problem, is it?”

No, Sebastian thought. It wasn’t. They didn’t need to be on the same team. They would make it work, even if they were competitors.

“Sebastian?”

“Yeah. I mean.” Sebastian took a deep breath. “You wouldn’t be you, if you didn’t play to win.”

Blaine said, “Likewise.”

* * *

When Sebastian had joined the Warblers, he had thought he was joining to play with Blaine Anderson. Blaine was, after all, one of the very early members of the Warblers, and helped bring the team to multiple top-six finishes at the prestigious tournament The International. Blaine, of course, had just left the Warblers to join New Directions—as a _support_ of all things—and it had taken Sebastian several months to understand just where he fit in with the Warblers. He was a part of the team. He was not a replacement for Blaine. They were there to play Dota—to have fun, to work together, and to win together.

But sometimes, old habits reared up. And it was always easy to let his life revolve around Blaine Anderson.

“What the fuck,” Thad muttered, turning on the light in the hotel room they were sharing.

Sebastian grinned back. “Hey, Thad.”

“You guys got dinner without us?” He frowned at Blaine. “What happened to ‘Warbler dinner?’”

“It was a Warbler dinner. Once a Warbler, always a Warbler. Blaine qualifies.”

“Asshole.”

“Anyways, Beat had a migraine,” Sebastian pointed out. “It wasn’t going to be a full team dinner anyways.”

“You didn’t have to ditch us…” Thad peered at him. “Oh. _Oh_.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes.

“How was your date with Blaine?”

“Ugh.”

“Don’t be like that. If you’d invited us, you wouldn’t have to get interrogated afterwards.”

“If I invited you guys, it wouldn’t have been a date.”

Thad smirked. “So it was a date.”

“Ugh,” Sebastian said again. Thad was insufferable sometimes.

“In the interest of team bonding…” Thad drawled.

“Telling you what Blaine and I did at dinner is not going to make our play any better.” Sebastian threw a pillow at Thad, who caught it with his face. He was spluttering as Sebastian said, “Ass.”

Thad said, “You do know that Nick and Jeff are going to be insufferable when they find out.” He sat down on his own bed and began to take off his sneakers.

“They won’t find out.”

Thad snorted, disbelieving.

“They won’t.”

“Sure. Nothing to say about them being insufferable?”

“They’re always insufferable.”

“More insufferable.”

“That’s impossible.”

Thad raised a brow. Sebastian conceded the point by flinging himself back onto his bed. It was quiet for a moment as Thad picked at the laces of his shoes and rummaged through his suitcase for his phone charger.

“Are you sure about this?” Thad asked.

“About what?”

“We’re playing them tomorrow.”

Sebastian stared at the ceiling. “I know that.”

“Will you be alright with that?”

The Warblers would be playing Team Phoenix tomorrow on the main stage. They’d played against each other before, in scrimmages to practice, in online tournaments. This would be the first LAN—the first Major where Sebastian would play against Blaine. And, with the Warbler’s current standings, the Winter Major was a critical time to get points and climb the rankings to get to The International. Sebastian was the carry of the team; he played position one, the priority farming position. The team was depending on him to win. Even against Blaine.

Sebastian didn’t look at Thad. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

* * *

Sebastian stretched out his fingers as they huddled around Thad’s computer for the draft. Wes, as their manager, was backstage, but David was in the booth with them. He was consulting his notepad as the clock ticked down.

“We can’t ban out Blaine.” That was David, frowning. “We neutralize the others instead. Ban Queen of Pain.”

Thad nodded in agreement.

That would take out Kitty’s best hero out of the game. She wasn’t bad on other heroes, but Queen of Pain was her favorite, and it showed. She’d only been playing professionally for a little over a year, and her hero pool wasn’t that diverse yet, and hopefully this would unsettle her enough that they could get the win.

Sebastian didn’t look over to the other booth, where Blaine was with the rest of Team Phoenix.

Sebastian paid attention to the draft, but David and Thad had it well in hand, the two of them always taking the lead when it came to picking and banning heroes for the game. They checked in briefly to see if Sebastian agreed with their pick for him—Sebastian had no arguments with Juggernaut—and the others didn’t have any issue with their picks, and Thad, on his computer clicking the heroes, had a faint frown the entire time.

“Treat it like a regular game,” David said, as the clock ticked down. They had their last pick in mind, so there was time for a brief pep talk. “It’s just a regular game.”

But the tournament had been rough, and a bad match against Team Adrenaline had put them into the loser bracket straight off. They were only a best of three away from elimination, and they needed to stay in the tournament for any hope of points. Team Phoenix had won their first match—they’d finished the group stages in the loser bracket—and they were riding on momentum while the Warblers had lost a series already.

“I can’t tell you to ignore Blaine,” David said. “But he’s just one player. You’re playing a team. _You_ are a team.”

They nodded.

“Alright. You guys got this.”

And by all rights, they should have. Top three at the Fall Major, a handful of victories at online tournaments, first place at the Summit Minor—the Warblers were doing well this season, especially compared to Team Phoenix’ record.

By all rights, they should have.

* * *

“You’re mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you,” Sebastian snapped back.

Blaine frowned at him.

Sebastian hadn’t wanted to see Blaine—not when Blaine’s team had won and Sebastian’s team had been eliminated—but Blaine had found him, eyes still bright from victory. It was galling to see; Blaine had always looked best when he was winning, but it stung to see it in the face of his own loss. He’d never had to see Blaine’s eyes after a scrimmage game or an online match, and seeing Blaine’s triumph in person was worse than he could have anticipated.

Sebastian had wanted to lock himself in the hotel room he was sharing with Thad, but hunger had driven him out to find food. Except instead of food, he found Blaine.

“I’m not mad at you,” Sebastian repeated, and he tried to temper his tone.

“Well, you’re mad,” Blaine said. He smiled, teasing. “And after that beating we gave you…”

Sebastian did not grind his teeth together.

“Hey. Are you alright?”

“Fine.” He tried to find an excuse. “Hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten yet?”

It was late already—Sebastian had waited until he couldn’t stand it before he went out in search of food.

Blaine said, “Want to get something to eat?”

“Shouldn’t you get rest for your match tomorrow?”

He regretted the words after he said it. Blaine’s face drew tight. Sebastian wanted to apologize, to blame his hunger, but he couldn’t find the words, and Blaine stepped away. “I’ll let you get some food,” he said. Blaine, always conciliatory.

Sebastian opened his mouth and closed it. “Sure.”

“Good night, Sebastian.”

“Night.”

Sebastian watched Blaine leave. When Blaine was gone—turned around a corner, he hissed, “Damn it.” His fist clenched. 

He went to find something to eat, so at least he couldn’t blame that the next time he fucked up.

* * *

They’d booked their return flight to Ohio for after the Major, which meant they were stuck watching everybody else play while they were already eliminated. Wes took a look at all of them and started making calls to see if they could change their flights without too much of a loss. He seemed to know that none of them were in the mood. He also, judging from the pinch in his brow, did not expect his calls to work.

David, who spent at least half of his coaching time as an emotional therapist for the team, took a look at Sebastian and said, “Okay, let’s talk.”

Sebastian glanced around at the hotel room that Wes and David were sharing and raised a brow in return. “Bit different from usual,” he commented. Usually, David had his ‘therapy’ sessions in his room in the team house, with two chairs dragged in from the dining room. 

“We make do.”

“Where’s Wes?”

“He’s talking to Beat.”

“Why?”

David snorted. “You’re not going to get out of this,” he said, not unfriendly. “There is something eating you, and it’s more than your usual asshole behavior after you lose.”

“I’m not an asshole after I lose.”

David eyed him skeptically.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “I’m not that much of an asshole after I lose.”

David waggled his pen at him. “Joking won’t get you out of this. I talked to Blaine.”

“What?” When?

“He texted me last night. Said he was worried about you.” David eyed him. “I know you two have been close lately…”

Sebastian sighed. “I might have been an asshole last night.”

“Sebastian.”

“He ran into me when I was trying to find dinner.” Sebastian threw his hands in the air. “I didn’t go _looking_ for him to be an asshole to.”

“Sebastian.”

“Do you think I went and found Blaine just to be an asshole to him because we lost?”

David eyed him, and then he sighed back. “No. You’re an asshole, but you’re not that much of one.”

He very deliberately did not roll his eyes.

“But you’re still not getting out of this. You _are_ more upset than usual, and Blaine wasn’t the only one who talked to me about this.”

“Thad?”

David smiled, tightly. “Jeff.”

Sebastian blinked. He hadn’t expected it to be Jeff; he’d talked to him briefly after their loss, before separating to their respective rooms. Sebastian was sharing a room with Thad, the way he always did when they travelled to LANs. He’d barely talked to Jeff.

“He said you were out of it after the game,” David offered.

Sebastian shook his head. “I’m upset we lost,” he finally conceded. “That’s nothing new.”

“You often get upset when we lose,” David said. “But you don’t usually take it out on other people.”

That wasn’t true; Sebastian had always been competitive, had always found ways to channel his frustration in losing, sometimes to other’s detriment. But David had known him after he’d joined the Warblers, and for the past year, it had been easy to settle into the team and to take their trust and camaraderie and let it support him, even through losses.

“You don’t have to tell me what’s going on right now,” David finally said. “But there’s something wrong, and we’re here for you, Sebastian.”

“I don’t like losing.” Sebastian said, and the words felt sticky and cloying, “Maybe you just haven’t seen me lose enough yet.”

* * *

Thad looked up when Sebastian returned to the hotel room. “David’s worried about you.”

“I notice you didn’t tell David that I was a mess,” Sebastian retorted. “What type of support are you?”

“Still mad, huh.” It wasn’t a question. Thad turned back to his phone with practiced disinterest, but he glanced up and smirked, very slightly. “I didn’t talk to David because I figured you’d sort your shit out yourself.”

“And I would have, if it weren’t for Jeff and Blaine.”

Thad blinked at that. “Blaine?” He put his phone down. “What did Blaine do?”

“Text David, apparently.” Sebastian kicked his shoes off to lie in bed.

Thad paused. “Okay, now I’m worried.”

“What. Now?”

“You got Blaine worried.” Thad sat up. “What did you _do_?”

Sebastian sighed. “Nothing.”

“Blaine wouldn’t have gotten worked up over nothing.”

“Did I ever tell you that this team gossips too much?”

Thad wasn’t deterred. “All the time. We’re a team of middle-school girls. You’ve said it all before. What the fuck did you _do_?”

“I was an asshole to him after we lost, okay? That’s it.”

“Did you apologize?”

Sebastian didn’t grimace. “Not yet.”

“You should.”

“Thanks for the advice that I didn’t ask for, Harwood.”

“Blaine’s a good person,” Thad said, as if he didn’t hear Sebastian. He was used to Sebastian’s brand of sarcasm now. “He’ll forgive you.”

Sebastian closed his eyes. Thad was right. Blaine _would_ forgive him, and that was the problem.

He shouldn’t have to forgive Sebastian.

* * *

Sebastian had said that you didn’t have to be on the same team to date. He’d believed it too. You could love somebody and go against them in matches with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. People could love other people and go against them in matches with hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line.

But maybe Sebastian couldn’t.

Thad had given up after a while. Sebastian had pulled out his phone for something to do, playing Hearthstone with half of his mind while he thought about that evening with Blaine.

He’d been an asshole, and he knew it. The worst part was that he hadn’t wanted to be, not to Blaine, but it had been so easy, with the frustration at the loss simmering inside of him and knowing that Blaine would forgive him. Knowing that Blaine wouldn’t hold it against him. It had been easy to lash out, and that was the problem.

Blaine Anderson.

Sebastian thumped his head against the pillow. 

He could remember the first time he had played with Blaine—it had been when he was still in Paris. Back then, the Warbler roster was different: Wes was still playing, and David too. Blaine had been a new face on the scene, but they were already talking about him. _Killer_ was his in-game nickname, and he had replaced Wes as the Warbler’s farming carry. Wes, who had been playing back when Dota was a Warcraft 3 mod. Wes, who was old-school and a legend. Wes had moved to play mid, and he remained effective at it, but everybody had been wondering about who Blaine Anderson was to warrant such a move for the Warblers.

Sebastian had been wondering with the others, and when the Warblers were in Germany for a tournament, he’d played one public game with Blaine, and that was enough for him to understand why Wes had switched roles.

Blaine was made to play a farming carry.

He’d probably fallen in love a little at that moment. How could he have not? Watching Blaine play was beautiful. Playing with Blaine was incandescent. He had never played with somebody who understood him so well. He had never understood a teammate so well.

He thumped his head again.

Blaine had left the Warblers. Sebastian had joined. They’d played against each other for a year. Blaine leaving New Directions to start his own team shouldn’t have changed anything. It should have been the same: the two of them on opposite teams, playing to win in tournaments, and playing together in pubs with easy affection. It should have been easy. 

It wasn’t easy.

Well, it had been easy until now. Until Sebastian had lost—in the loser bracket, in a Major, against Blaine—and Sebastian was understanding that nothing had changed from last year, when all that mattered was Blaine.

It was still about Blaine.

Except now it was worse.

He thumped.

“You’re moping,” Thad said from his bed. “It’s distracting.”

“What are you even doing here?” Sebastian demanded. “Don’t you have things to do?”

Thad raised a brow. “And leave you to mope on your own? Are you kidding me? You’d come up with some plan like ‘Get Blaine to Defect From His Newly Formed Team Where He’s Happy and Productive and Get Him to Play Support.”

“First of all, if we recruited Blaine, there’s no way we’d recruit him to play support—”

“Oh,” Thad snorted. “That’s your problem with the plan.”

“And second of all,” he continued, loudly, “I wouldn’t do that to Blaine.”

Thad raised an eyebrow, managing to convey _wasn’t that your plan for half of last year_ with just an arched brow.

“Oh, fuck you.”

“We talked about this,” Thad said, glad to be on familiar ground. “Not happening.”

Sebastian sighed.

“And no, I don’t have anything to do, because we _lost_ ,” Thad eyed him, and Sebastian very deliberately did not grimace or make any sign of frustration, “to _Blaine_.”

Sebastian glared.

Thad leaned back. “Huh.”

“What’s that about?”

“You’ve never been upset about losing to Blaine before.”

“Fuck off, you aren’t David.”

“No, because does David know that you and Blaine are dating?”

Sebastian opened his mouth, and then closed it. “It isn’t a secret,” he finally said.

“But you aren’t advertising it either.” Thad’s face was knowing. “Because it’d be awkward, wouldn’t it? If you were dating the carry of another team. There’d be talk of collusion.”

Sebastian looked away. 

Collusion.

It sounded like a dirty word in Thad’s mouth. Collusion.

“We know you wouldn’t,” Thad offered.

Sebastian thumped his head against the pillow. Again. “Damn it.”

“You must have thought about it.”

“I was trying to not think about it.”

Thad said, “That doesn’t sound like you.”

“Fuck off, I wouldn’t try to use Blaine like that, alright?”

Thad was used to Sebastian, after a year of playing together. They played duo-queue leading up to tournaments, officially for practice, unofficially because Thad was one of the few people who actually enjoyed playing with Sebastian when he was revving up for a tournament and became more cutting and sarcastic than usual. So, he eyed Sebastian and said, “I know that.”

Collusion, Sebastian thought bitterly. He’d been avoiding putting it into words, but hearing Thad say it aloud made it unavoidable. He knew what the commentators would say when they found out that he and Blaine were dating. They’d accusing the loser of matches of throwing. They’d say that neither of them could be trusted to play their best, with their boyfriend on the other team.

“I wouldn’t use Blaine like that,” Sebastian said, again.

“I know,” Thad said, again.

* * *

The problem was that for a moment in their game, Sebastian _had_ thought about it.

It had just been a glancing thought, but it was enough to distract him. He and Blaine had been on opposite sides of the map, both of them farming as efficiently as they could. Blaine had the advantage—their team had taken the last fight, and the Warblers had pulled back to regroup. The jungle on the Warbler’s side of the map was compromised; Sebastian didn’t know exactly _where_ Team Phoenix’ wards were, but he knew they were in there, but he was playing Medusa, and he just needed to keep farming to hold on past Anti-Mage’s peak. Blaine’s Anti-Mage was no doubt farming as well; he’d popped in for the last team fight with more farm than they’d anticipated, and it had been rough, dealing with the levels and items on Anti-Mage. 

They weren’t doing well. The team was depending on him.

He saw Puck—Kitty’s hero, a blue fairy inspired from A Midsummer’s Night Dream—appear, and he turned on Puck, but the rest of Team Phoenix weren’t far behind, and his ultimate—Stone Gaze—was still on cooldown. He slapped the table in frustration when he died; bad playing, and for one ungrateful moment he wished that Blaine hadn’t formed this team, hadn’t put it together, and if he was going to put together a team, couldn’t he use it to help _Sebastian_ climb to the top?

It was a terrible thought, and Sebastian had tried to cast it from his memory.

But he had thought it, and now that he had given the thought shape, it lingered: throughout the rest of the game, throughout the rest of the series, throughout the rest of the evening and into the next day.

He’d promised Blaine that they would both play their best, and it would be fine.

But Sebastian was realizing that it wasn’t fine.

* * *

Team Phoenix was still in the tournament; Sebastian watched them play from the lounge room set aside for players and team managers. 

“Blaine’s as good as ever,” Nick said, holding a bottle of Mountain Dew.

“Yeah.”

They were good; Blaine had done a good job with the team. Sebastian had known that Blaine had a good chance with this team, but seeing them in this tournament was making it clear. They had a chance of winning the whole thing. It didn’t make Sebastian feel any better, and his hand clenched into a fist at that.

“Sucks that we had to play against him early. But it’s good to see him doing well.”

He _should_ be happy for Blaine. Nick could do it, Thad could do it, all of the other Warblers could do it. And Sebastian had more at stake; he needed to be happy for Blaine.

But the loss was still bitter on his tongue, and he wondered why he couldn’t swallow it down.

“I guess I should just tell you that Thad told me to get you.”

Sebastian blinked, turning away from the game. “Why?”

Nick shrugged. “Captain says jump, and I say how high.”

“You’ve never done such a thing in your life,” Sebastian replied, following Nick out. He glanced at the game on the screen again—Team Phoenix was winning, and he turned away quickly. “I play with you.”

“I’m not the one who argues with our Captain,” he replied, cheerfully. “I leave that for our illustrious carry.”

“Are you accusing me of mutiny?”

Nick grinned back. “Maybe I was referring to Blaine.”

Sebastian scowled.

“Woah.” Nick did a double take. “You really _are_ mad at Blaine.”

“Why do you all think I’m mad at Blaine?”

“Because I’ve only seen you look like that once before, and you were talking about Kurt Hummel then. That’s your mad face.”

“I’m not mad at Blaine.”

Nick looked skeptical.

“I’m not.”

“You’re mad at somebody.” He cocked his head in thought. “Are you mad at us? For losing? Is that why Thad wanted me to get you? Did you already bitch him out?”

“I didn’t bitch him out, and I’m not mad at anybody.”

“Not even Hummel?”

“What?” Sebastian blinked. “How did you come up with that?”

He shrugged. “You’re mad at somebody, even if you say you aren’t. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw Hummel make a move on your _boyfriend_.” He winked. “Blaine’s looking fine this tournament, after all.”

Sebastian stared. “I didn’t tell you that we were dating.”

“Of course not. But we aren’t blind.”

Collusion, Sebastian thought. Collusion.

“You didn’t think we actually didn’t know?”

“I didn’t think about it at all,” Sebastian retorted. 

They were at Wes and David’s room. Nick knocked, and David opened the door. He nodded when he saw them. “You’re here,” he said. “Come in. We should talk.”

Sebastian walked into the rest of the team sitting on various surfaces. Jeff sitting on the hotel desk. Beat had claimed one of the beds. Thad was frowning on the other. And Wes was standing in the middle of the room, and he was very serious when he said, “Sebastian. There’s a rumor that you threw the match because you’re dating Blaine.”

Collusion, Sebastian thought again, and the word was as ugly as it was when Thad said it.

* * *

Blaine’s team won their match. Sam Evans had his arm slung around Blaine’s shoulders, and they were grinning with exhilaration at another win when Sebastian saw them. Trent saw Sebastian first, and he waved, friendly. Sebastian tried affecting nonchalance as he waved back.

“Sebastian!” Blaine beamed at him, and Sebastian barely managed to smile back.

“Good game,” he said.

“Thanks!” He dislodged himself from Evans, exchanged another high-five with Trent, and then he was standing by Sebastian, grinning. His smile faded at Sebastian’s attempt. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He took a deep breath. “We should talk.”

“That doesn’t sound like nothing.” A furrow began to work its way across Blaine’s brow. It cut the exaltation short.

“I wanted to tell you in person.” He glanced at Blaine’s team; Kitty was pretending not to eavesdrop. Tina wasn’t even pretending. “I thought you deserved to hear it in person. Can we… talk in private?”

Blaine glanced over. He waved them away. They stood, so close that Sebastian swore he could feel the pressure of Blaine’s presence in the air around them, in a private alcove. There was nobody around.

Sebastian said, “They’re accusing us of collusion.”

Blaine said. “What?”

“I already talked to the tournament organizers. I told them that I didn’t throw the game.”

“Why would they think…”

“I wouldn’t. And I know you wouldn’t.” The words were bitter. “You beat us, fair and square.”

“But why would they even think that you’d throw the game?”

“I wouldn’t,” Sebastian said. “But since it’s you—”

Hurt flashed across his face. “They don’t think I’m good enough to beat you?”

“No, Blaine.”

“Is that what you think?”

“No!” Sebastian shook his head. “Blaine, they know we’re dating.”

He said, “So?”

“They think I threw the game because we’re dating.”

Blaine stared at him. “They don’t know anything about you.”

No, Sebastian thought. He wouldn’t throw the game just because he and Blaine were dating. And he had never asked Blaine to throw the game for the Warblers. But he’d thought about it. He’d let that thought take root. And wasn’t that just as bad?

“I talked to the tournament organizers already. There’s no evidence that I threw. My play was fine. But you’ll have to talk to them as well. It’s just a formality, Blaine.”

Blaine shook his head. “Who would think that you’d throw the game for _me_?”

Sebastian said, “You’ll have to talk to them.”

Blaine took his hand. He squeezed. His hand was steady and warm. He was no longer smiling. Sebastian wished Blaine was still flush with victory. “I will,” he said. “And I’ll tell them what we already know. That you would never throw a game.”

* * *

It felt like whispers were following him wherever he went.

Wes hadn’t changed their flights; they were staying at the Major until the end in a few days. It shouldn’t have been that big of an issue, since they had always planned on staying until the end, regardless of their result. But they’d thought they would have made it further before getting eliminated, and there was nothing for Sebastian to do other than listlessly practice with Thad.

Blaine hadn’t talked to him since Sebastian had found him in the halls and told him about the rumors of collusion. It felt deliberate, not like before, when they didn’t meet because they were both busy and preoccupied. With the rumors, it felt like they had to stay apart, to insist there was nothing going on between them.

“Probably for the best to keep your distance from Blaine,” Wes said, frowning slightly. “Don’t want to feed the rumors.”

What rumors, Sebastian wanted to demand. The rumors of collusion, or the rumors that he and Blaine were together? But Thad had frowned at him, and Nick’s brow had been furrowed, and he hadn’t been able to read Beat’s expression or Jeff’s, and so Sebastian had been quiet.

“I’m not going to avoid Blaine because of baseless rumors,” Sebastian had replied.

“Don’t avoid him,” David had said. “But don’t seek him out.”

Blaine hadn’t texted him—even when Blaine was busy, he usually sent a brief text, just a hello, or asking how he was doing. But Blaine hadn’t texted him since he’d found out about the rumors, and Sebastian wondered if Blaine had gotten the same instruction: to avoid him. Or, as David had said, not seeking each other out.

He scowled at his phone.

“What fucking awful thing have you read now?” Beat slung an arm around Sebastian’s shoulders.

Sebastian shrugged it off. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“No, because we fucking lost.” He felt the tension in his shoulders. “Hey. We don’t believe any of that bullshit. Nobody does.”

Sebastian didn’t reply. He could see Hummel lurking in the corner of the lounge—New Directions were still in the tournament. They’d be playing against Team Phoenix next, since they’d lost to Team Adrenaline and were now in the loser bracket. It was galling that New Directions were still in and the Warblers were out, but that was Dota. 

Beat followed his gaze. “What about Hummel?”

“Nothing,” Sebastian said. Kurt looked up and sneered at him. Sebastian sneered back. “Nothing.”

But Sebastian’s mind was whirling, in the calculations he was used to doing when he was playing a game, thinking of advantages and disadvantages, and weaknesses to exploit. He saw the tournament as if watching a replay, and he looked at Kurt Hummel’s sneer and thought: _he had everything to gain_.

* * *

“Do you know what you’re suggesting?” Thad sounded furious. “Sebastian, this is ridiculous.”

“He had everything to gain.” Sebastian’s hand flexed, as if searching for something to do. “Who else would start that rumor?”

“The two of you weren’t that subtle,” Thad said. “Plenty of people would suspect you guys of dating, especially with that cozy private dinner you guys had.”

Sebastian’s hand closed. “But who’d go from _dating_ to throwing games? Hummel’s the one who insisted that Blaine leave the Warblers when they started dating. He’d be the perfect person to start that rumor. He already thinks like that.”

Thad snorted. “I warned you that you were obsessed with Hummel.”

“I’m not obsessed.” He uncurled his fingers, and then curled them back. “I’m analyzing the situation.”

“You’re coming up with mad ideas.” 

“They aren’t mad if they’re true.”

Thad shook his finger in Sebastian’s face. “This is worse than any speculation that Reddit can think of.”

“He accuses us of colluding, and he takes out two teams—”

“There’s no reason to think that New Directions would gain anything,” Thad said, coolly. “They were in the winner’s bracket. We were both in the loser’s bracket.”

“Not New Directions,” Sebastian said. “Kurt Hummel.”

Thad looked at him, and he sighed. “Don’t come up with ridiculous theories because it suits your narrative, Sebastian.”

Sebastian’s fist opened. He let his hands relax. “I didn’t.”

* * *

Confronting Kurt would be difficult.

New Directions were still in the tournament, and that meant that they were preparing to play against Team Phoenix. They practiced in one of the rooms set aside, had team meetings, and generally kept themselves focused on the situation at hand.

Blaine was busy as well—he didn’t try to contact him, but he knew that they were preparing for the match as well. The Warblers should have been scrimming against Team Phoenix to help them prepare; they got along well, and it was good practice, but with the collusion accusations, Wes had suggested it would be better if the teams spent less time together.

But Sebastian wasn’t supposed to be talking to Blaine now anyways, and that gave him more free time than he was used to having.

“Do not go accusing Kurt,” Thad said.

“What are you accusing Kurt of?” Jeff asked.

“Why are you accusing Kurt?” Nick continued.

Beat looked up at Nick’s expectant face and said, “I’m not fucking joining this train of questioning.”

Sebastian threw his hands up in the air. “Thank you,” he said to Beat.

“Don’t thank me,” Beat said. “I just couldn’t think of another question. I only want those two questions answered.”

“Never mind.” Sebastian sighed.

Thad had decided that an intervention was necessary, which meant the rest of the team was now in their hotel room. Nick and Jeff had claimed Sebastian’s bed, and were now sprawled on it—shoes off, after Sebastian had yelled at them. Beat had settled into the desk chair. Thad was guarding the door. It left Sebastian to sit on Thad’s bed, which he did, frowning at them at the same time.

“Sebastian’s spent too much time on Reddit,” Thad said. “He’s starting to come up with theories worse than Jungling Anti-Mage.”

Nick cocked his head in thought. “I could see it,” he began, only to get his shoulder slapped by Jeff. “I mean, what a terrible idea. Anti-Mage does not belong in the jungle. Sebastian, I expected more of you.”

Beat was studying the ceiling in thought. “How would that even work? How would you get started? What items would you even get?”

“My point is,” Thad said, loudly, “is that you cannot go accusing Kurt of anything, and you should be glad I didn’t tell Wes that this is your terrible idea.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes again. “You’ve regressed from middle-school to kindergarten.”

“I’ll take it if means you don’t go out and accuse Kurt of spreading rumors without _any proof_.”

Sebastian stared. “You want us to just sit here and let Kurt accuse us of collusion.”

“Technically,” Jeff drawled, “we aren’t being accused. Only you and Blaine.” He paused at Thad and Sebastian’s glares. 

Nick, who was in the crossfire, said, quickly, “Once a Warbler, always a Warbler! Blaine’s one of us, so the Warblers are being accused. Right?”

Beat paused, before he nodded, “Right.”

Thad sighed. “That wasn’t the conclusion you were supposed to draw.” He shook his head. “Sebastian, you don’t like Kurt, but you can’t just accuse him—”

“That’s what he did,” Sebastian replied.

“That’s what you _think_ he did.”

Beat cleared his throat. “Wait a fucking second.” They paused, accordingly. “Thad, why did you tell us to come here?”

His mouth opened, and then closed, and Thad finally said, “To keep Sebastian from going out to yell at Kurt Hummel.”

“Right, but why _us_?” Beat said, “Why not Wes? Or David?”

Sebastian blinked.

Nick squinted at Thad. “Oh my god,” he said. “You _agree_.”

Sebastian said, “What?”

Jeff was nodding, “Being captain sucks, doesn’t it?”

“What?”

Beat said, “You’re such an asshole.”

“ _What_ the _fuck_?” Sebastian interrupted.

Thad sighed.

Beat answered for him. “He’s just doing captain duty. But he doesn’t actually give a shit if you go out and yell at Kurt.”

“You really _shouldn’t_ ,” Thad said into his hands.

“What the fuck,” Sebastian said. “Thad.”

“I’m just as pissed at you!” Thad shouted. “You think I enjoy knowing that people think you colluded to throw the game? You? You wouldn’t throw a game to save your life! And I’m pissed that you played like shit against Blaine!”

“What the fuck,” Sebastian breathed. “Thad—”

Beat threw out a hand. “Wait. Let Thad get it out of his system.”

“What the fuck was with your shitty play! You lost every lane! Your reactions were slow as shit. And everybody has an off day but why the fuck did you pick when we were in the loser’s bracket against _Blaine_?”

Nick whispered, to Jeff in a tone everybody in the room could hear, “Wow, Thad’s pissed.” Jeff elbowed him back.

“And yes, I’m mad that somebody’s decided that they’re going to spread rumors of collusion. And your animosity against Kurt aside, it means that somebody’s watching you and Blaine and knows that something’s up, and neither of you are subtle, but I’ve been watching you guys and only somebody who knows the two of you should have gotten to the conclusion of _dating_ and that means…”

“Kurt Hummel,” Sebastian finished.

“Or Trent,” Jeff offered, before he closed his mouth at Thad’s glare.

“But you can’t confront people just because of some suspicion,” Thad said, with a sigh. “You can’t. Not if you want to get this dealt with properly.”

Sebastian stared. “Alright. I’ll bite. What’s properly?”

Thad huffed. “I don’t know!”

Jeff rolled his eyes. “Here’s an idea,” he drawled. “Why don’t you talk to Finn?”

Sebastian blinked. “What?”

“Finn’s very bad at underhanded tactics,” Jeff said. Sebastian always forgot how much Jeff knew about the other NA players; he’d been the one to recruit Kurt for his brief stint as a sub. “If you talked to Kurt or Rachel, they’d just deny it, because they’d do anything to win. But Finn doesn’t even know what underhanded tactics are; if he thought that Kurt accused you of collusion, he’d probably tell you because he’d think it’s something to just tell you.” There was a pause, and then Jeff said, a little apologetically, “I really couldn’t tell you much about Artie or that new support of theirs, Mike. He’s new to the scene.”

“But Sebastian shouldn’t ask him,” Nick said. He lit up. “Even if Finn’s straightforward, he’ll be more likely if somebody else talks to him about it. Probably not one of us.”

Sebastian blinked. “What,” he uttered. “Is happening?”

Thad leaned against the door and sighed. “I think we’re developing a plan.”

And Beat said, “Fuck yeah we are.”

* * *

He left the others to plot—Jeff going through people that Finn was likely to talk to, and Nick offering his opinion while Thad and Beat bent their heads together. But Sebastian had only been playing in the NA servers for a little over a year, and while he’d played with many of the other pros, he spent the most time with Blaine.

He hadn’t been bothered by his limited relationships with the other NA pros, but now he was wondering if he hadn’t miscalculated.

Just like he had miscalculated about Kurt Hummel.

He hadn’t cared about Kurt beyond what that meant for Blaine; once Blaine had made the decision to leave New Directions, to seek his own path, he had considered the situation done and settled. But clearly it wasn’t, if Kurt had decided to look at him and Blaine and accuse them of collusion.

Cheating.

He sneered at nothing as he stopped at a vending machine to get a soda—it was out of Mountain Dew, so Nick would just settle for something else, and he was sipping his Diet Coke while frowning at the selection when he caught sight of none other than Kurt Hummel, alone.

He turned and frowned. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Thad’s whispered _back_.

Thad was their officially shotcaller in-game. He spent the early game with Sebastian in lane. Sebastian had excellent judgement, as all professional players did, but Thad was the one who was used to looking at the whole of the map and assessing the situation. Sebastian was used to Thad’s calls; he listened to them, usually.

He did not listen to this one.

It took only a few strides to put him up to Kurt Hummel, who eyed him just as suspiciously back.

“Hummel,” Sebastian said.

“Smythe,” he replied. He smirked. “How are your games going? Oh, I forgot you were eliminated already.”

Sebastian smirked back. “Looking forward to playing with Blaine? Oh, I forgot. He left you. You’re going to playing _against_ him.”

Kurt ‘s eyes narrowed back. “We’ll see about that.”

“Oh?” Sebastian leaned forward. “What ploy do you have up your sleeve?”

“Like I’d tell you.” He scoffed. 

“Yeah?” Sebastian stared down at the terrible outfit Kurt Hummel had on now. What was wrong with a good pair of skinny jeans and a team T-shirt? Why was Hummel wearing… that? “So there is a ploy.”

Kurt glared.

“Should I guess what the ploy is?” He thought about Blaine, and the way he smiled when he leaned into Sebastian’s shoulder. He thought of dinner that night—they’d found a nearby Italian place that was nothing like Breadstix and actually had good Italian food. Sebastian had tried to convince Blaine to share a bottle of wine, and Blaine had said that he should have invited the rest of the Warblers if he wanted to drink a whole bottle. Blaine had compromised with a beer to Sebastian’s cocktail and glass of wine, and had taken sips while watching Sebastian through his eyelashes, coy curve in the corner of his lips. “Let me guess, you can’t just let Blaine go.”

Kurt hissed, “Fuck off.”

“Don’t be a sore loser, Hummel.”

“I didn’t _lose_.” He sneered. “You did.” He smirked. “And so will Blaine.”

Sebastian saw red. He didn’t see Blaine, who had come over. He didn’t see Blaine reach for his shoulder, didn’t feel him tug his arm until it was too late. The can of diet coke splashed out, and instead of splattering across Kurt’s plaid pants, it went straight into Blaine’s eyes.

* * *

Wes said, “I thought we told you to keep away from Blaine.”

Sebastian didn’t reply.

The rest of the team had been gathered. They sat in David and Wes’ hotel room. Mostly. Wes was pacing. The others were talking.

Nick said, “Weren’t we going to talk to Finn?”

“Yes, we were going to talk to Finn,” Jeff said.

Thad sighed. “I know I told you not to confront Hummel.”

Beat offered, “Well nobody thinks you and Blaine are fucking anymore.”

Jeff rolled his eyes, very dramatically.

And David knelt by where Sebastian was sitting on the edge of Wes’ bed. He pressed a hand to Sebastian’s knee, and said, “Sebastian. Are you alright?”

“I threw soda in Blaine’s face.” He laughed, hollowly. “Fuck.”

“Yes,” David agreed. “But he’ll be fine.”

But he remembered—Blaine’s hand had gone up to his eyes, he’d stumbled back (away from Sebastian), and Sebastian had frozen. Kurt had been _watching_. He would know, if Sebastian reached for Blaine, tried to help. He would know, and what would happen to Blaine? Would he be able to play, tomorrow? Would they eliminate his team?

So he had stood, still.

He was good at making snap decisions. He had to be, to play at a professional level. But he was playing a game he didn’t know, and instinct called him to Blaine, and a voice that sounded like Thad whispered, back, and he stood still, suddenly petrified and uncertain.

Blaine had whimpered.

Sebastian, sitting with the Warblers, said, again, “Fuck.”

“He’ll be fine,” David repeated.

Sam Evans had shown up. It had felt like eons, but it had only been seconds, hadn’t it? He’d come and helped Blaine to his feet, told him he’d get him to a bathroom, rinse his eyes out, no, don’t rub, Blaine, you’ll make it worse, just keep your eyes closed, maybe blink.

And Sebastian had stood there.

Kurt had left. Sebastian hadn’t been able to categorize Kurt’s expression. Worry for Blaine? Pleased that Sebastian had hurt him? Sebastian couldn’t remember it. All he could remember was Blaine.

He had been in pain. And Sebastian had stood there.

“Sebastian,” David said. “Sebastian.”

He had stood there.

“Sebastian.”

Sebastian looked up. “I have to talk to Blaine.”

* * *

When they had arrived at the Winter Major, Blaine had texted his hotel room number and a note of: “I’m sharing with Sam, but I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you came to hang out.” Despite that, Sebastian had never gone to visit; they had spent their time together in hallways and in that Italian restaurant. 

Sebastian pulled up the text now and went to Blaine’s hotel room. He was two floors up from Wes and David’s room.

Wes hadn’t wanted him to talk to Blaine, but David had looked at him and let him go, albeit reluctantly. Thad was walking with him now, hands in his pockets in deliberate nonchalance. He didn’t say anything as they took the elevator up, didn’t say anything as they walked down the hallway, Sebastian checking the plaques next to each door against the number in his phone.

Sebastian knocked on the door.

They couldn’t have waited more than a minute, but every single second of it was excruciating. When the door finally opened—Trent, not Sam—Sebastian didn’t have time to say anything before he was being ushered into the room.

Sam looked up as Sebastian stepped in. “Sebastian,” he whispered. He glanced at Thad. “Thad.”

“Evans,” Sebastian whispered back.

“It’s Sam,” Sam said, just as softly. “Blaine talks about you a lot.”

Blaine was lying in bed, eyes closed. His breath rose and fell in steady breaths. He was sleeping.

“He’s going to be fine.” That whisper was Trent, who had closed the door. “It was just soda. It stung a lot. But he’s fine—we rinsed out his eyes and everything. Still, he’s got an appointment to see a doctor when we get back.”

Sebastian said, “I…”

Thad took up the thread. “We wanted to check on Blaine.”

Sebastian stood still.

Blaine’s chest rose and fell.

“Is he alright?” Thad asked.

Trent shrugged. “He said he was fine. Then he said he was tired and wanted to take a nap.”

Blaine’s breath hitched.

“We’re probably disturbing him,” Sam offered.

“We are,” Thad agreed. “We’re glad he’s fine. All of us have been worried.”

Sebastian didn’t move.

“Thanks for coming by,” Trent said, amiable.

Thad tapped him on the shoulder. “Sebastian.”

Sebastian startled. 

“Let’s let Blaine get some rest.”

Sebastian’s mouth opened, and then closed. He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t move.

He hadn’t moved.

“Sebastian?”

He turned and walked away from Blaine.

* * *

New Directions played Team Phoenix in the morning. When Blaine walked on stage, he looked fine; tired, eyes red, but fine.

Sebastian, watching the stream, turned away.

Blaine was better than all of New Directions. He knew how the game should have gone. He knew who should have won.

The other Warblers around him leaned forward at engagements, relaxed after tense team fights, and studied the stream with a practiced eye. This was Blaine’s team, after all, and Trent—who had played on the Warblers as a sub a few times—was on the team as well. Even if both of them were on a new team, they had been Warblers once.

Once a Warbler, always a Warbler.

Sebastian knew who should have won.

“Blaine’s having a rough game.” That was David, frowning. Wes made a vague noise of agreement from where he was sitting. Thad winced when Tina, on Lion, was caught out warding and died. Beat drummed his fingers on his knee.

Sebastian watched the entire series, all three hard-fought games. When Blaine walked across the stage, he watched as he shook hands with all of New Directions (his teammates, last season), giving Rachel Berry a hug.

He knew who should have won.

David leaned back with a sigh. “Too bad,” he said.

“GG,” Wes said, still watching the screen.

His phone felt heavy in his pocket.

Blaine had lost, and Sebastian thought of how Blaine had flung a hand over his eyes just the night before, and he didn’t say a thing.

* * *

In the end, he didn’t have to go to Blaine. Instead, Blaine found him.

They had been playing a scrim with Team Adrenaline in one of the computer rooms. Adrenaline’s carry, Jesse St. James, remained as competent as ever. Sebastian wouldn’t be surprised if Team Adrenaline won the tournament, especially given how Jesse was playing. It was a good patch for their team, and they were playing it well. The Warblers had lost both scrims, but they were close games, and Sebastian was bitter but only a little.

After GGs were called, Sebastian went out to get some coffee for the headache he was beginning to nurse. He stopped short at the door.

Blaine stood there. He had a cup of coffee in its sleeve. He smiled when he saw Sebastian, lifted the cup as if in a toast, and said, “Want coffee?”

They ended up in Sebastian’s hotel room, Thad kicked out to spend time with the other Warblers. Thad had only raised a knowing eyebrow as he left, pocketing his phone as he walked out. Sebastian held the cup that Blaine had given him. He hadn’t sipped it yet, just letting the warmth press against his palms.

“Are you going to drink that?”

Sebastian looked down. Slowly, he took a sip. It tasted like cinnamon. He set the cup down.

Blaine looked at him. “Sebastian?”

“You lost,” Sebastian said.

Blaine grimaced. “Yeah. Rough games.” There was a pause, and then he said, “That’s not what this is about though, is it?”

He swallowed. “I hurt you.”

Blaine said, “It was an accident.”

“No,” Sebastian said. Accusations of collusion. Confronting Kurt. Standing there, unable to do anything to help as Blaine stumbled away. “It’s not just that.”

The first time he had played with Blaine, he had fallen in love. It had been a moment of brilliance, seeing somebody play at such a high level. He had wanted to play with Blaine in that instant. Seeing Blaine in person only confirmed it. He hadn’t known it was love at the moment, caught up in competition. It had taken time before Sebastian had understood that playing with Blaine was more than the chance to win.

Blaine was the type of person who should rise above everybody else. He was the type of player who could join any team and turn it into a top team. He wasn’t just a shot-caller like Thad, or just a playmaker like Sebastian. He was more than that; somebody who loved the game, who believed in his teammates, who played to the best of his ability, who never wanted to let anybody down.

Sebastian had never wanted to let Blaine down, and then he had.

“I’m bad for you,” Sebastian said. The cup was warm. “I’m—”

I stood there, Sebastian thought. I stood there and let you hurt.

Blaine was pale, “What are you saying, Sebastian?”

He laid it out starting from the accusations of collusion because they were dating. It would always follow them; maybe if they were on the same team, but Sebastian couldn’t make Blaine leave the team he had built, and Sebastian wouldn’t leave the Warblers. As long as they were together, Blaine would never be able to climb to the top the way he deserved. Instead, Sebastian would only drag him down: with accusations, with misunderstandings, with Blaine, eyes still red from when the sticky drink had splashed into them, and Sebastian had done nothing to help.

Blaine listened without saying a word.

Sebastian finished, his throat dry. He stared down at the coffee. He didn’t drink from it.

Blaine finally said, “Are you breaking up with me?”

Sebastian wanted to say no. He should say yes. He said nothing at all.

“Sebastian,” Blaine said. “Is this a break-up speech?”

“You lost,” Sebastian finally replied. Sebastian had made him lose.

“It’s not about winning, Sebastian.”

He knew that, but still, couldn’t Blaine see that his entire career would be stymied if they continued like this? He knew that it wasn’t about winning, but it still mattered. He knew that, and he opened his mouth to say so. 

Blaine continued. “I didn’t start dating you because you placed top three at TI. You didn’t start dating me because I won games, because I didn’t win jack shit when we started dating. Winning tournaments didn’t matter.”

Sebastian stared.

“Why do you think we started playing together?”

Because they won, when they played together, Sebastian thought. But that wasn’t true, was it? He played with Blaine because it was fun, the two of them working together. He liked the way Blaine laughed, liked to experience the laser-focus of Blaine farming. He liked playing with Blaine on the same team, because it meant they would talk to each other and spend time together. He liked supporting Blaine, liked carrying Blaine, liked the push and pull of dragging each other to better heights.

“I played with you because I liked you.” Blaine’s chin lifted. “I kept playing because I loved you.”

Not because they won, when they played together.

“I love you,” Blaine said. “Not because you won the Fall Major. Not because you play great Dota, but it doesn’t hurt. I love you because you’re ambitious and determined and you give your everything when you care about it.”

The cup, even though it had been cooling, felt too hot against Sebastian’s fingers.

“And you don’t get to take it away from me.” Blaine stood. He stepped forward. His fingers were firm on Sebastian’s cheek. “I love you, Sebastian. You can break up with me if you don’t love me. But don’t… don’t do it because I lost. Love doesn’t come from victory.”

His eyes were steady.

“Love is given freely.”

He pressed a kiss to Sebastian’s forehead, and it burned as Sebastian let go.

* * *

Wes pulled him aside. “The accusations of collusion were found to be baseless.”

“Great,” Sebastian said, dully. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask if they’d found out that this was all Kurt Hummel’s doing, if Thad and the others had hunted Finn down and questioned him, but he found he didn’t care anymore. Not when Blaine’s touch still burned on his skin. He felt the press of Blaine’s fingers on his cheek still, like the touch of a brand.

Wes looked at him, closely. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Sebastian.” He wasn’t David, but his voice was still kind. “Your relationship with Blaine—”

“What relationship?” Sebastian muttered.

Wes shook his head. He sighed. “It’s done. There were no signs of collusion. Thad and the others rousted around and found out how it started. It was just a rumor that got blown out of proportion on Reddit.”

Wes looked tired. “It’ll happen again,” Sebastian said. It would happen again, and again, because he and Blaine were on opposite teams. Maybe it wasn’t Hummel who spread the rumors this time, but it didn’t matter. Rumors of collusion would follow him and Blaine everywhere.

“And we’ll deal with it.”

Sebastian doubted Wes knew what he was getting into.

Wes said, “You’re a Warbler, Sebastian. Win or lose, you’re one of us.”

Sebastian closed his eyes. “This is a fucking mess.”

“It is. But it’s handled. We have it under control.” Wes’s hand on his shoulder was firm. “Go get some rest,” he said. “Trust us.”

* * *

Thad took one look at Sebastian when he entered their hotel room and said, “What did you do to Blaine?”

“What makes you think I did anything to him?”

Thad eyed him. “You look like you got instagibbed.”

He was a little stunned, by Thad’s comparison wasn’t warranted. He supposed he did look like he’d just been blown out of the game. Still. “That means I did something to Blaine?”

“Blaine’s not the type to hurt people unless goaded.”

Sebastian conceded the point.

Thad sat on the edge of his bed. “Well?”

“Isn’t this David’s job?”

“Don’t avoid the subject.”

Sebastian stared at the ceiling. It was a molted pattern, not quite a popcorn ceiling, but not quite flat either. “I hurt him,” Sebastian finally said.

“Yes,” Thad agreed. “You did. And?”

And. And.

Sebastian said, “I never wanted to hurt him.”

He had always wanted to see Blaine shine. It had been the reason he had come to North America, had moved from Paris, had joined the Warblers, had spent all of those hours playing pubs with Blaine. 

“He knows that,” Thad said. “He knows it was an accident.”

But it hadn’t been an accident, had it? Sebastian had seen Blaine and in the way he always had, calculated the best way to exploit his weaknesses, and had done everything he could to keep them from being exploited. Kept themselves separate in public, even when Blaine was lying on the ground with a hand on his eyes. He had hurt Blaine.

And Blaine had cupped his cheek and pressed his lips to his forehead and said he was still loved.

Sebastian looked at Thad. Thad, who called the shots in-game. Thad, who made the drafts with David. Thad, who babysat him in lane and ensured that Sebastian could play the best game he was able.

Thad, the team captain.

“Thad,” Sebastian said. “Give me a plan. Captain.”

* * *

New Directions made it to the grand finals only to get trounced by Team Adrenaline. Sebastian watched the entire series with grim triumph, elbows on his knees and resting his chin in his hands.

“Jesse’s as good as ever.” Nick shook his head. 

Jeff grimaced. “What a beast.”

“Fuck,” was Beat’s contribution.

Sebastian didn’t say anything, seated with the rest of the Warblers as they watched the series. David didn’t even take notes—there’d be the replay to look at, later. For now, they just sat and watched.

When the series ended, and Jesse lifted the trophy above his head in triumph, Thad stood up and stretched. “Well, that’s done.”

“Back to Ohio,” David agreed. “We’ve got lots of practice to do, if we’re going to beat them.”

Sebastian nodded, absently.

Blaine was sitting with his teammates nearby. Trent was shaking his head good-naturedly, and Kitty and Tina were arguing about something with only a little rancor. Blaine was smiling, surrounded by his team.

Sebastian felt a touch on his shoulder. Thad nodded.

The player’s lounge was filled with people. Every single one of them could see as Sebastian stepped towards Blaine. Yet nobody paid much attention, chattering with their teammates and making plans for the next tournaments. 

Sebastian stopped in front of Blaine.

He looked up.

Sebastian said, not quietly, but not loudly either. He spoke in a normal tone of voice, and he held out his hand. “Blaine.”

Blaine looked at it. Nobody was watching, but everybody was. They were used to being vaguely aware of situations that took place beyond their field of view, and the rest of the players were beginning to glance over. Sebastian wondered if Blaine would brush it aside, but no. He took Sebastian’s hand and stood. “Dinner?” he asked.

Sebastian squeezed back. “It’s a date.”

Blaine smiled. “Just you and me,” he said.

Sebastian nodded.

He could sense Thad’s gaze, from where he was with the other Warblers. Blaine’s teammates watched them, but beyond a frown on Tina’s face, and deliberate nonchalance on Kitty’s, they didn’t say anything either. There was the lingering pressure of eyes on them—not just their teammates, but the rest of the players taking note. He rolled his shoulders back, trusting in Thad’s steady presence supporting him, in Blaine’s hand firm in his own. No more hiding. His team had his back. Blaine was standing here before him.

“So,” Blaine said, as they began to walk out. His fingers curled around Sebastian’s. “Did Thad come up with this plan?”

Sebastian said, “Shut up.”

Blaine laughed. “He totally did.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. 

Blaine squeezed his hand. “Hey.”

Sebastian said, “I love you.”

Blaine blinked. Then, he began to grin. “But I lost.”

“Shut up,” Sebastian said again. The other players were beginning to take interest in them, their hands still in each other’s. “I loved you before you lost to Kurt Hummel, of all people.”

“New Directions placed second,” Blaine said, cheerfully.

“We both know that your team’s better than theirs.”

“Not according to the standings.”

“Just…” Sebastian shook his head. “It had nothing to do with your placing.”

Blaine smiled. “I know.” He glanced around. “And so does everybody else, now.”

Some of the Chinese players were whispering to themselves. Tina had been roped into helping translate the situation to them. There was a Russian team that was eying their linked hands thoughtfully. Nick was heading over to chat with them with his usual bright grin.

“Yes,” Sebastian said. Everybody knew, now, that he and Blaine loved each other. There would be rumors of collusion following them, but win or lose, he would weather them. With Blaine. He squeezed. “I don’t have anything to hide.”

* * *

Blaine got a clean bill of health from his doctor, and a suggestion he avoid getting soda thrown into his eyes. Sebastian got the text in the middle of the Warbler scrimmage against Team Phoenix, during the draft. “Turn off your phone,” Thad groused.

“It’s Blaine,” Sebastian said, glancing at the text. “Shouldn’t he also be in the draft?”

Wes sighed, pulling out his own phone to text Team Phoenix’ manager. David said, “I can’t believe anybody would think the two of you were colluding. Neither of you can keep a secret to save your life. If you were colluding everybody would know within five minutes.”

“What does that mean?” Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. “You and Wes didn’t know we were dating until Thad told you.”

“You mean _Thad_ didn’t notice that we knew until Wes told him,” David corrected. “Wes and I knew from the beginning.”

Wes smiled a little. “You aren’t very discrete,” he said. “And Blaine and I do text.”

Sebastian stared. “You _knew_?”

David nodded, turning back to the hero drafting screen on Thad’s computer. “Of course we did.”

“You never said anything!”

“Why would we?” Wes asked. “You can date who you want. It didn’t interfere with Warbler things. And Blaine’s a good influence on you.”

“But.” Sebastian stared. Thad avoided his eyes. “You weren’t worried about what people would say? What would happen to the team?”

David turned away from the screen then. “Of course not,” he said.

Wes took up the thread of conversation. “Blaine’s got integrity.”

“What about me?”

“You’ll do anything to win, Sebastian. We all know that. But you were dating Blaine. Nothing was going to happen.” Wes said, “It’s possible to date and be on separate teams, you know.”

Sebastian just gaped.

“Now, if we want to win TI, you better pay attention to the draft and stop texting your boyfriend.” Wes jerked his chin towards Thad’s screen, and Sebastian reluctantly turned his focus to it. “After all, we’re depending on you to carry us to victory.”

**Author's Note:**

> Want more in this 'verse? You're in luck! The prequel to this fic will be posted on Day 7 of Seblaine Week 2020: Friends with Benefits. ~~Because Friendship is a Benefit 💖~~
> 
> Curious about Dota 2? Feel free to hit me up and I'll be happy to tell you about the game, the pro-gaming scene, and all of the [amazing memes](https://dota2.gamepedia.com/Memes), several of which are referenced in this series.
> 
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